Lafayette High School students meandered around the school’s track for more than two hours Monday, waiting for police and fires crews to sweep the school for bombs.

A threat called in to the school’s main office about 10:15 a.m. caused the school, off Longhill Road, to evacuate, Williamsburg-James City County Spokeswoman Betsy Overkamp-Smith said.

Crews from James City County police and fire departments and the Newport News bomb squad turned up nothing in the nearly 2.5-hour search, JCC Battalion Chief Al Catlett said.

"We are treating the threat seriously and with all due respect, " Catlett said Monday.

Making a bomb threat at a school is a felony, said JCC Deputy Chief of Police Steve Rubino.

He said JCC Fire Marshals are taking the lead on the investigation and are exploring all possibilities, including whether or not the call came from a student.

Overkamp-Smith said the division provided some buses for students to keep warm during the 50-degree day.

Parents who tried to pick up their children during the evacuation were turned away at Lafayette’s entrance. Many parked at a church across the street to wait.

After learning of the threat, Scherral Smith rushed to Lafayette to pick up her daughter, with whom she was texting.

"I would like to go ahead and get her out of there, " Smith said. "They haven't eaten anything, drank anything.”

Lafayette’s three lunch periods are between 10:50 a.m. and 12:50 p.m. Overkamp-Smith said students were provided time to eat lunch after returning to the building.

Source: www.vagazette.com